Light in the Darkest Moment
by PrincessDaydream77
Summary: When Morgana falls down a flight of stone steps, she becomes deathly ill. Arthur takes her to Gaius, then returns to his chambers to mull over the reason he will do anything to save her and what she is hiding from. My first multi-chapter ArMor. Don't like the pairing, don't read the story.
1. Falling

Light in the Darkest Moment

Summary: When Morgana falls down a flight of stone steps, she becomes deathly ill. Arthur takes her to Gaius, then returns to his chambers to mull over the reason he will do anything to save her and what she is hiding from. My first multi-chapter ArMor. Don't like the pairing, don't read the story.

Disclaimer: Only the idea belongs to me.

Chapter One

Arthur was sitting calmly in his chambers, thinking about nothing in particular. This was a regular occurrence for the Crown Prince of Camelot, as he really had nothing to think of, other than swordplay, of course, but even the First Knight needed an occasional break from mulling over techniques. His focus changed a lot, flittering from one thing or another, until his thoughts stilled on the topic of his younger sister. '_No, not sister_', he thought, although she was as close to him as such, and almost always had been.

His mind suddenly changed its course once more, to rest on the question that had overtaken it; Why was he so averse to referring to the girl he had lived with for eight years as his sister? They had always been as close as siblings, though admittedly, Morgana had been much more distant as of late, slightly colder even. But the question still remained; why?

Arthur's thoughts were interrupted when an urgent knock sounded at the door, bringing his thoughts to an end.

"Come in." he called. To his surprise, the door burst open before he had even finished the invitation, revealing a panicking and terrified-looking Merlin.

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur asked, a slight undertone of worry in his voice. Merlin was known to fret about the tiniest things, Arthur had learnt quite soon into the four years that the man had worked for him, but the prince had never seen him look so scared about something of little importance.

"Sire, it wasn't my fault! She just fell, I tried to stop her, but the flame surprised her and she just fell down, I couldn't catch her, it was all just too fast!" Merlin gabbled, barely pausing for breath. Arthur's eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening slightly more than could be deemed as dignified for a royal.

"Who? Merlin, who has been hurt?" asked Arthur urgently, staring expectantly at his manservant. It was the next word that terrified the prince.

"Morgana."

That word was all that needed to be said before the blonde man's chair went crashing to the floor, the man himself already halfway out of the door. Merlin ran out after him immediately, mindful that Arthur didn't actually know where Morgana had fallen, or, thankfully, why.

They ran alongside each other for a while until Merlin turned sharply at a corner, bewildering the prince slightly as he began to run down a flight of steps. Arthur froze for a moment in confusion before remembering Merlin's earlier statement. '_She just fell down, I couldn't stop her_'.

Those words prompted Arthur to fly down the steps after him. However, as he reached the bottom, where Merlin knelt, his heart nearly broke in two.

There, pale and unmoving on the floor, lay Morgana. Her limbs were tangled from the way she landed, her hair spread across her face and her red velvet cloak wrapped tightly around her body. The sight cut through Arthur like a knifeblade.

Kneeling down beside the woman, he positioned one arm under her knees and one on the small of her back, lifting her from the ground with practiced ease and hastening up the stairs, sending Merlin up on his way to fetch Morgana's maidservant, Guinevere, from her home in the Lower Town.

A few minutes later, the party reached the other side of the Citadel and the chambers of Gaius, the Court Physician, who had entered the room alongside them, as Merlin had called the man on his way to Gwen's. Arthur was given way in the room, as Morgana's head began to loll alarmingly against his chest, her limbs hanging far too limply in his arms.

Arthur heard Gaius distantly bark for Gwen to fetch towels and hot water as he cleared the table to lay Morgana on, but the prince wasn't really listening. He was too busy looking down at the girl herself, stroking her cheek as their physician busied himself around her, now giving orders to Merlin instead.

It was still killing him now, to see Morgana like this. It was very hurtful for him to see the young woman in such obvious pain, yet still slightly comforting to see that she refused to show it too much, showing him that his Morgana was still hanging on for dear life. He had never thought those words so literally in all his life.

"Arthur, I need room here." Gaius told him, breaking him away from his thoughts and bringing him back down to earth with an almighty bump.

"Yes. Of course." Arthur responded hesitantly, taking all his energy to not show his reluctance to leave the woman alone. With an inaudible sigh, the blonde turned his back and began to walk out of the door. A thought occurred to him as he did, but he still did not turn, as he knew that if he did, he would not be able to allow himself to walk out again. "Anything you need, just tell me."

There was only a few thoughts going through Arthur's head as he returned to his private chambers, all of them questions; _What if that was the last time I will ever see her? What if the last words I ever spoke to her were to remind her of her duties in the Court? What if she dies?_

Without knowing it, Arthur began to cry. He could not remember the last time he had cried. It must have been when Gorlois died, while he was just turned thirteen years old. He had not cried for himself, as he had not known the man very well, but had cried for Morgana, the pain the loss had caused her. He had cried because she had cried.

Now, who knew if she would ever cry again?

A/N: I know, another new story! Not sure how good this is, and it's my first real ArMor, even though I've shipped them for years, so please be kind.


	2. An Evening of Nightmares

Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks to archangelo137 for being my first reviewer, and dream-on-sunday for being my second.

Long before the morning had broken, Arthur lay awake in his bed. He had not slept a wink all night, instead staying up and thinking of Morgana by candlelight.

The night was so strange, so quiet without her. There was an air of silence that should have been filled by her subtle breathing in the rooms next door to his, inaudible yet comforting to the prince. Now, he knew she was gasping and struggling for a gulp of air, trapped in a sleep that may never end. It agonised him to even consider. He couldn't lose her. It would destroy him.

Unable to take the pain anymore, Arthur rose from his bed. It was no use staying there when he had no chance of sleeping, especially when he had somewhere much more important he could be. Crossing the room to his wardrobe, Arthur pulled out a jacket, throwing it carelessly onto his shoulders as he walked out of the door.

Arthur's mind, though it had been active in thought for just a few hours, was still half asleep, unable to concentrate properly. His feet were moved of their own accord, directing him subconsciously to where he wished to go. It was as if his heart knew the pain he was being caused and was seeking out a way to lessen it.

It took quite a while for him to reach the place, but once he had done, he felt relief flooding his heart. He opened the door, then shut it behind him, careful to be absolutely silent, though there was only one other in the room, sleeping peacefully while no one else did. One that Arthur was not entirely sure would ever wake again.

There she lay, beautiful even in her sleep, with the moonlight shining upon her face, making it glow like the stars above her. If he considered it carefully, the light gave her almost an ethereal look, almost as if she were a serene spirit. It was only after he had done so that the man realised he had thought precisely the wrong thing.

The prince collapsed down in a chair by Morgana's bedside, just as the tears began to flow once more. Arthur could hardly remember a time when he had cried so much, or if he ever had. '_I've never had cause to cry this much, as I've never been in so much pain._'

Through his tears, Arthur mused on the raven haired woman's beauty. Even if she did not have the conventional beauty, blonde hair and blue eyes, of women such as his mother and that ghastly Lady Vivian, she had an air about her that was full of mystery and intrigue. Or at least she had done.

'_She looks almost like an angel__._' Arthur thought, immediately contradicting himself with a snigger of laughter. Morgana was the least angelic person he had met in his life. She was boisterous, outspoken and downright reckless the majority of the time, and over the years, she had got into just as much trouble as he had, if not more. She had always been so full of spirit. Not anymore.

In truth, it was very strange for Arthur to see Morgana so peaceful. When he had often gone to check on Morgana in their childhood, when she had just begun to live at the castle, he had always found her fitting in the throes of nightmares. Now, she just lay, entirely and unnervingly still. It was just not right. Not right at all.

Unable to resist the temptation, the prince reached out to stroke the edge of the young woman's face. He wondered for a moment as he did so whether she could feel the gesture, whether even through her pained slumber, she knew he was beside her. If she did, he hoped it would offer her comfort. If she did not, at least he was stopping himself from falling apart.

'_How has it all come to this_?' Arthur thought, even the voice in his mind laced with anguish and fear. '_Just earlier this night, she had been dancing and laughing along with all the others. She had been fine, she had been happy. She had been content to celebrate until the dawn, just as she always has been. Now, who knows if she will even see another sunrise_?'

Even as he had thought it, the man had wished he hadn't. He did not even want to consider the possibility that Morgana would not live, but each time he took in the slow rise and fall of her chest, the painful gasps as she attempted to draw breath, he realised that that chance was rising each time she did so, that her life was slipping away from her. He realised that his life was slipping away with hers.

'_If I had never known Morgana, would my life have been so bad? Would I have found another to laugh with, another to beat in a sword fight? Another to be…_' Arthur cut off his thought, a little frightened. If he had continued the thought, what would it have spoken? It could possibly have been…

The prince returned his gaze to Morgana as she let out a gasp so much louder than the others, her face contorting in pain even as she slept. All memories of his thoughts evaporated from his mind, replaced only with a prominently protective feeling, a need to take Morgana's pain away. But how?

There was only thing the blonde could think of that may reduce the young woman's pain. Brushing a stray curl away from her face, he began to lean down. His lips hovered little more than a hair's breadth from the pale skin, and for just a moment, Arthur paused, considering the move he was about to make, a move that may change both of their lives.

But it was a move he did not make. Just as he was about to close the slight gap between them, the man pulled away, stood from his chair and bolted from the room, as a horse might do after a week in a stable. Unbeknownst to the prince, however, the woman he had abandoned had felt his presence, and had found comfort in his gestures. At least, while it had been there.

As the morning sun began to breach the horizon, it was reflected in the tear that fell from Morgana's eye.

A/N: Please review this, if you love ArMor, or like the story, or whatever! Just please review!


	3. Changes in the Raindrops

Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks to Kreuse, archangelo137, Guest, Kreuz106 and furin-a, my excellent reviewers.

Three sunrises passed, and still, there was no change in Morgana's conditions. In fact, if anything, she had grown progressively worse, to the point where she was teetering on the edge of death.

As the young woman's state had worsened, Arthur's had done so as well. Each time she drew a staggering breath, it felt like a dagger in his aching chest, twisting each time she let out a whimper or a cry. As her life was slipping away, his was failing just as quickly.

Since the woman had fallen ill, Arthur had spent more time in the training grounds than ever before, lashing out with sword in hand come rain, shine or storm, as if inflicting pain on a silent mannequin would lessen the pain pressing on his heart. No such luck was awarded to him, as the rainfall numbed only his skin, and did nothing for his spirit, which was shattered beyond repair.

The most painful thing of all was the memories. They haunted him every minute of every day, each room he entered holding a reminder of the brunette laying still and silent in Gaius' chambers, each memory reminding him just how much he stood to lose.

Each time he entered the Great Hall, he saw the young girl curtseying to the Court, the first time she had been present among them, when she was only seven years old. Each time he strolled out into the Training Ground, he saw a stroppy teenager swinging a blade around, giving his best knights a run for their money. He had not deigned to approach their secret childhood garden, for fear that he would not survive the pain. A phantom Morgana followed him everywhere, in his heart, ceasing to leave him alone for a moment, and leaving Arthur fearing the day that she would at last.

His state seemed to be one that was familiar across the castle. His father had spent every waking moment by her bedside, Merlin had been unusually quiet and Guinevere had hardly left her own house for days, bar to check on her mistress' progress. Morgana's fall had shaken the whole city, and her death was sure to do the same.

Sitting in stillness on the sill of the window, Arthur cried out at the thought of Morgana being taken from him. She had been his world for many years, though he had never told her as much, and he could not bear to lose her to the waters of Avalon, not when she had so much life left to live.

As if imitating the pain in his heart, the heavens opened and rain began to fall, the clouds darkening as thunder sounded in the distance. It was almost comforting for the man, to know that a storm was coming, as it reminded him that he could still feel, that the cold rain still pierced his skin like needles, that the thunder crackled deafeningly in his eardrums and the lightening blinded him with his brightness. They may not have been good things for him to feel, but he felt them, and that was all that mattered.

'_Oh, what has she done to me?'_ Arthur thought, with the slightest hint of a smile. '_I was never like this before she started getting into trouble._'

That was a point that forced a laugh from Arthur's throat. There was not a single time in Morgana's life that he remembered her not being the kind to get herself into trouble. She had driven half of the court out of their minds by the time she was five years old.

It was strange to think how much Morgana had changed in so little time. She had gone from being a loud, boisterous, colourful child to being a silent white figure, laying silent on her bed, not knowing if she would ever see the morning. It was truly terrible, so much so that Arthur could hardly think of it without tears forming in his eyes.

'_I care so much about this girl.'_ Arthur thought, laying his head against the chilling glass of the window. '_If she died tonight, tomorrow, at any time before I do… I don't think that I would be able to survive the pain__.__'_

These words that his mind spoke to him were alien to him, but they felt so right for him to feel. He had lived with Morgana for so long, of course he cared for her, yet he had never felt them in this precise way before. He had never felt this way about anyone before.

The more his mind entertained the idea of the way he cared for Morgana, the clearer the idea seemed to become. She was truly important to him, that much he knew, but there were other feelings surfacing as well. Admiration, rivalry… even love.

That was another question for Arthur to answer. '_How do I love Morgana?'_

When the girl had moved to live with them, at the tender young age of ten, Arthur, being three years older, had felt a responsibility to protect her, as a brother would do for a sister. But the longer he protected her and stood by her, the more he wanted to stay close to her, to the point where he did not want her out of his sight for a single moment of the day. He felt that he had failed in his duty as a protector, but he did not feel that he had a duty as a brother any longer. They were not related, after all, so why should he feel thus?

With yet another sigh, to calm the flurry of thoughts passing through his mind, Arthur looked through the window, watching as the raindrops pattered against the deserted cobbles of the courtyard. He was so engrossed in the glow of the raindrops that he did not notice the shouts echoing from the hallways. However, when he paused for a moment to listen to the words, the man immediately was brought to attention, as he knew there was only one person the shout could refer to.

"She's awake!"

A/N: What will happen next? Please review to find out!


	4. Tales and Truths

Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to ArTeMuS09 and Pegasus for reviewing the last chapter.

As he reached the doorway of Gaius' chambers, his cheeks still flushed from the sprint he had torn through the castle, Arthur paused just before he knocked on the door.

The moment he stopped, the young prince questioned why he had done so. '_After all, I have never shied away from Morgana before, and I have never been so anxious to see her before. Why should I stop just before I have the chance?'_

His mind catching up with his sense of logic, Arthur raised his knuckles and rapped lightly on the door, pressing his ear to the wood immediately, in order to hear any response. When a weak voice came from inside, filling the young man's heart with utter joy, he immediately twisted the brass handle, stepping forward into the room and closing the door behind him.

As he had thought, from the voice alone, the servant had indeed been speaking of Morgana. The young woman was sat, propped up against a mound of pillows, in her bed. She had deep violet circles beneath her eyes, and was as pale as the sheets she lay on, but Morgana was alive, and for Arthur, that was more than enough.

As she saw the blonde enter the room, Morgana's face lit up. In truth, she had never thought that she would see him again, even that she would wake at all, and she was more relieved than she could possibly say.

"Arthur?" she questioned, clearly her throat afterwards, to remove the embarrassing croak that remained in her voice, due to the fact that it had not been in use for all those days. "Arthur, is it really you?"

"Yes." he answered simply, soon finding that his voice had all but disappeared in the time since he had found out she was awake. "Yes, it is."

"You've been struck dumb by the sight of me, it seems." Morgana commented, with a hint in her voice of the weak smile that she held on her face.

"You could say that, I suppose." he told the girl, his voice becoming stronger with the rising tone of humour entering into it. He settled down into the chair beside her bed, before continuing with his explanation. "It wouldn't be the first time. I remember when you came home looking like you'd been dragged through a hedge backwards and dropped into the river on your way home. You told me you'd been foolish around with that boy from the Lower Town, and you'd fallen off your horse and into the river. From the looks of it, you were telling the truth."

"Apart from the tree I flew over on the way down." she admitted, with a cheeky grin. "And that boy was a nuisance. He chased me all around the forest, because I wouldn't give in and kiss him."

"And did you?" Arthur asked the woman, his tone of voice suddenly a little harsher, for a reason that he could not quite explain. "Did you kiss him?"

"No, I did not." she replied, her own voice somewhere between indignant and regretful. "But I would have done, if you hadn't come barging in and dragged him by his ear back to his mother."

"He deserved it." the blonde informed her with a shrug of his shoulders. "He was taking advantage of you. You were still just a child."

"Arthur, I was fourteen! That was only five years ago! And he was gorgeous." the girl exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that she had done since a very young age. It was a familiar gesture that Arthur was glad to see, as it was known to him that, if she had enough energy to show him as much cheek as she usually did, she was most certainly on the road to recovery.

"That is beside the point!" Arthur responded, his voice equally as exasperated as hers had been. Just as she had done, the young man crossed his arms over his chest, plastering a similar pout to his face to the one the younger had to hers. Unable to resist doing so, both young adults burst out laughing within a couple of moments, the expressions on their faces extremely funny to behold for the one sat opposite.

"We haven't laughed like that in a long time, have we?" Morgana asked suddenly, shocking the both of them. They had both noticed the change in their relationship over the past two years, though only one of them knew of the reason for this, but they had never spoken of this, particularly never to each other. They had each decided in their own mind not to speak of the matter at all, for fear of upsetting the other, or ruining the renewed happiness they had discovered as a family. Now, that rule had been broken, and they were finally to be honest.

"No, we haven't." Arthur answered, speaking only the truth, as he had seen an unspoken agreement between them that they would do so. "We should have done, a lot of times, but we haven't really had the opportunity to talk over the past year. I wish that we had done."

"So do I." Morgana sighed, suddenly unable to meet the prince's eye. It was as if she was regretful of something. The expression on her face was the one she had always borne when she had done something wrong, when she had riled his father and was preparing to face the consequences. '_Why would she look like that?'_ the blonde asked himself. '_If she had nothing to hide.'_

Seeing that trying to communicate with the woman further would be futile, Arthur slowly rose from the chair he sat in and exited the room, not looking back for fear that he would not be able to leave her again if he did so.

After her foster brother had left the room, Morgana let out a huge heaving sigh. She knew that Arthur was aware of something being out of sorts, but she would not allow herself to dwell on it. There were more important tasks at hand.

'_I have to see Morgause.'_

A/N: Uh oh. Please review!


	5. The Shadow in the Darkness

Chapter Five

A/N: Thank you to Kreuse and Fireminer for reviewing, with great encouragement for the chapter.

Shrinking back into the shadows, so as not to be seen, Morgana returned on her way to the safety of her chambers, as she had done those countless times before. For months, she had been using the same tactics to evade the palace guards, and for months, the guards had remained oblivious to her sneaking out of Camelot near every night. '_Guards are extreme names for those men.'_ the woman thought, barely able to keep herself from snickering aloud as she did so. '_They are merely imbeciles who did not have the credentials to become a night, and would only pull out a spear if they needed to use it. They could not guard a small child, so how could they be trusted with the life of the King?'_

Nevertheless, she slipped past the men, who had once again patrolled right past the alcove, in which she was hidden in plain sight, and began to return to her chambers.

"Uther won't suspect a thing." she could not help but whisper, the reverence as clear in her tone as the smile on her face. She was referencing the plan she had discussed with Morgause, while she had gone to see the woman, regarding her fear of being caught for who she was, but her sister had brushed off the worries, saying that she would not allow such a thing to happen. Now that she knew that the blonde would help her, everything seemed to be perfect.

However, for a moment, a feeling of coldness passed over her, as if a person was stood in silence directly behind her. She paused where she stood, not truly caring that anyone might catch her, as she had the feeling that someone already had done.

For a moment, she debated with herself. Part of her, the curious part, wished for her to turn around, to see who was spying on her and confront them about why they had done so, but another part of her wanting to continue, to run back to her chambers and bolt the door, although then she would not know who had been following her, their motives for doing so, or even if there had been anyone there at all. Either way, she may end up losing what she had spent so long trying to build up, being exposed for who she truly was, and that she truly had changed.

After the most terrible few seconds of debating with herself she had ever experienced, Morgana decided to turn, to face the man, or perhaps even woman, who dared to challenge her in silence. She had always considered herself to be a far braver female than the rest of the ladies in the Royal Court, and certainly more fiery than the stereotype of the time had suggested, in actions as well as in personality. She had never been one to give up before, and she had certainly not changed enough to introduce that weakness into her personality, quite the opposite, in truth, as she had grown even stronger under her sister's influence.

And so she did so, turning to face the figure with a swiftness that she had not intended. But when she had turned, what she saw was a shock that she would not have expected, despite the fact that she had considered the options in her mind. She was faced with something more terrible than she would have expected.

She was faced with an empty hall.

'_How can this be?'_ she wondered, her confusion taking over every sense she still held. '_I know that there was someone following me. I know it!'_

All the evidence concluded to the fact that she had been mistaken, but her heart told her that she could not have been. She had always listened to what her heart had told her before, and did not see why she should do any different now, when all that had changed was her allegiance.

"Who are you?" she called out, in a voice far quieter than she would have liked, but still with enough power to it to make the force behind her question known, to anyone who dared to hide from her. "I am Morgana Le Faye, of the Citadel of Camelot, the ward of King Uther Pendragon, and I demand to know."

Whoever had taken the risk of following her seemed to know this fact already, either that or they were by no means loyal to Uther. It was almost laughable that Morgana should think such a thing herself, but she did do, along with much else. There had been a few falsehoods in the speech itself, the most prominent of which being the fact that she had announced her allegiance to Uther and to Camelot itself, something that she had denounced over a year previously, when Morgause had saved her from Merlin's ruthless attempt on her life.

However, if she had indeed been correct about her follower, the shadowy figure still did not have the decency or the nerve to come forward and show their face. Though she would never admit such a thing, Morgana was actually a little fearful. She had risked so much to go and see Morgause, even crossed the border between Camelot and Escitir to do so, and she could not afford to have all that they had worked for sacrificed, just for the sake of a girlish chat to do with her own little fears.

"Come on, come out!" she exclaimed once again, the level of fear in her increasing by the moment. "Here I am, there's nothing to fear for you! Are you afraid of a woman?"

Still, the only response she received was the silence, something so unnerving that she could not bear it any longer, and retreated to her chambers at a run, slamming the door shut behind her the moment she was clear through it. '_I don't know what has happened.'_ she thought.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, another had slipped into their bed, the knowledge of what the young woman had done still fresh in his mind. He lay back, terrified of what had become of the girl, and what may yet be to come.

"Oh, Morgana." Arthur sighed. "What has happened to you?"

A/N: A bit of turbulence is coming, I sense. Please review!


	6. Almost, but Not Quite

Chapter Six

A/N: Thank you to Pegasus, Guest and Kreuse for reviewing. I really appreciate it.

Morning arose, and Arthur was a little fearful of going to breakfast that morning, given what he now knew about Morgana, and the fact that she was plotting something. He did not know what, or when she would do so, but he knew she was planning something, even if she was not doing so alone.

'_She said something about my father.'_ his mind told him, triggering another stream of thoughts to come to the forefront of it. '_She was planning something to do with him, and it did not sound entirely positive to me when she said it. She sounded almost… almost like she wanted to hurt him. But why?'_

That was a question that he could not answer, but the only one that he really needed to know the answer to, as a matter of urgency. If something had turned the dark haired woman against his father, it must have been something extreme, or she would not have taken such drastic action against him. No matter what else she may be, Morgana was not irrational, and she only did things when she had a good reason for doing them, or else she would find alternative means of gaining what she wanted.

Nevertheless, he moved from his position, making his way downstairs to break his fast with his father, and with his father's ward, of course. That was why he was most terrified, in truth, as he did not know what he should say to a girl whom he had almost kissed, yet the same girl who he had overheard making plans to assassinate his father, a man that had taken her in as a child and given her everything she could have wanted. Everything bar a family to call her own, all that she truly wanted.

When he entered the room, the man was more than dismayed to see that his father had not yet arrived, and that it was Morgana alone who sat at the table. She did not seem to mind the fact that she was alone, another difference between her old self and the girl who he had found cowering in the forest all those months ago. She now seemed to enjoy her solitude, as if she was attempting to hide from the world, and she did not seem to be as outspoken as she had always been before. It was strange to see the girl as such a quiet one, even when he knew the extent of the change she had gone through in that time.

"Good morning, Morgana." he greeted, unable to concentrate due to the heavy silence in the room. She raised her head quickly from where her gaze had been directed towards a bowl of fruit on the table, as it was the most interesting thing she had seen up until that point. However, she quickly regained her composure, and plastered a smile onto her face as she saw that the intruder into her solitude was none other than the prince.

"Good morning, Arthur." she greeted in return, hoping that she sounded convincing and thinking that she did. Perhaps she would have done, to anyone else who did not know her quite as well as the blonde did. She was a fairly convincing actress, just not convincing enough to overcome the years that he had watched her use the technique, most of the time to effective results. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did." he answered, after having seen her posture slip a little as he settled down into his seat opposite the woman, for just a split second, if that. It was quite obvious that she was relieved at this answer, and he did not imagine for even that long that he did not know the reason for this. "Although I didn't get into bed until very late. You see, a woman returned to the castle, extremely late in the night, and evaded all the guards in doing so. As I am in charge of the training and operations of those guards, you, of course, realise that I had to go and find out for myself. And I did."

Once the final words of his sentence had been spoken, even a blind man could have seen that Morgana was distressed at the fact that her secret had been discovered. However, despite her heavy breathing and reddening cheeks having given her away, the raven haired girl did not offer a confession, nor a denial. Instead, she remained absolutely silent, staring into the eyes of the blonde man opposite to her, as if willing him to yell at her, to comfort her, to walk away, just to do something to make her acknowledge what she had done. He did none of these things, merely waited for her to make the first move. Eventually, she did do.

"I just wanted to see my sister, that's all, Arthur." she told him, her voice so quiet that, had it not been for the cavernous nature of the room, he would not have been able to hear her at all. Another thing that had changed over the course of the past months, the volume of Morgana's voice had decreased dramatically from the loud, boisterous place it had used to be at. "You don't know what it is like for me. She is the only family that I have left, all that I have left in this world. You can't take her away from me, Arthur. Please."

"You don't only have her." the man pointed out, his anger suddenly spent as he moved across the table, bending down in front of the woman and taking her face in his hands, moving forward towards her. "You have me, and you will always have me."

Once again, he moved a little further forward, so that his face was only a couple of inches from hers, and he was about to press his lips to hers, when the bang of a door only a little while away signified that his father was about to arrive.

Reluctantly, Arthur returned to his seat as his father entered the room, and neither he nor Morgana spoke any more about the night she had snuck into the castle.

A/N: Almost, but not quite! Please review!


	7. A Midnight Rendezvous

Chapter Seven

A/N: Thank you to Kreuse and Pegasus for reviewing the last chapter.

That evening, Arthur sat patiently in his chambers, waiting for Merlin to arrive to dress him for bed. Of course, he was perfectly able to do so for himself, but he enjoyed berating the servant for his lateness, as it was a great source of entertainment for him. Finally, a knock sounded on the door, and the young man did not even bother to turn. No one else ever visited his room, after all, except for Merlin and his father, who would have started speaking before he had opened the door.

"Merlin, you're late." he sighed loudly, a smirk on his face nonetheless, a stark contradiction to the accusing tone in his voice. In truth, he was not annoyed with the boy in the least, as he had been expecting his tardiness as a part of the nightly routine, and it was not a surprise to him at all. However, the man did receive a surprise when he turned to face the dark haired servant, and instead was faced with a dark haired woman.

"Morgana." he greeted, albeit he was unable to keep the note of disbelief from his tone of voice, despite the good attempt he made to do so. The young woman darkening his doorway did not seem to mind, however, and merely moved a little further into the room, taking a couple of tentative steps in his direction and stopping once again after those steps had been completed. "Are you alright?"

Immediately, Arthur felt that he could have quite easily hit himself for asking such a trivial question. And of course she was not alright! She had been resting in a coma for days, and had only awoken a little while ago, after having fallen down a flight of stone steps, screaming in terror though she knew that no one may hear her. He had then gone and confused her even further, by making advances on her that she clearly was not ready for, as her mind was so occupied by wondering whether or not her sister was the right person to choose, if it meant that she would have to leave all that she had known since she was ten years old behind. Clearly, she was not alright.

However, when she heard the question, she nodded in the affirmative, though the blonde could tell from years of experience that she was lying about that. Morgana hated to admit weakness in herself, as she had done since a young age, and allowing him to know that she was not alright would come into that category, or it would in her mind, at least.

"Morgana, come and sit here." the man instructed, though not with the same authority in his tone as he would have done if addressing Merlin. Not that he would ever have invited the younger man to do anything but his job, as that was what he was paying him for, not to sit around for a chat. However, the raven haired girl was the person who had always been the closest to him, through the entirety of her life, along with most of his, and the only time in his memory that he had not had her with him was before she was born, if they did not count the year that she had been missing, the year that had near enough broken his heart, which had almost cracked from the guilt of him knowing that he could have protected her from Morgause, and that he had not done so.

The moment she had settled herself down beside him, Arthur reached out his hand to clutch at hers, doing so completely subconsciously. After all, through the years, it had been an automatic thing for the pair of them to reach for each other's hands, as all other siblings they had seen had done. Though they had never seen themselves as siblings, doing the same had always been the most comfortable thing for them.

"What is it, Arthur?" she asked, her hand having finally relaxed in his own, as it had flinched and stiffened a little at the unexpected contact, as if she had been used to any contact being harsh. The reason to this was not one that the prince found the need to ask at that particularly moment, and so he prioritised answering the question that she had asked, vowing that he would ask her about the flinching incident later.

"Perhaps that's what I should be asking you." he responded, leaving the girl utterly silent, unable to think of anything to say in argument to the fact that he had shot at her. "You cannot lie to me, Ana. You can't lie to my face now, and you never have been able to do, so there is no point in even trying."

Yet another minute of silence passed, seeming in Arthur's eyes to be the hundredth on that day alone, when it was only perhaps a dozen at the very most. During this time, neither of them moved. They merely stayed, hand in hand, until Morgana spoke. "I'm confused. I don't know what's happening any more. I thought he was my friend, I don't know how he could do this to me."

"Who are you talking about, Morgana?" he asked her, turning from comforting to stern at once. If the woman was fearful of someone, she must have had a very good reason, as she had hardly been fearful of anyone her entire life. "What happened?"

"I was taking a stroll in the castle, when I stopped. I'd heard a noise behind me, and I was going to turn, to see what it was. But then, I felt a push in my back." she explained, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Out of habit, the blonde wrapped his arms around her, trying to offer her what little comfort he could. "And I fell down the stairs."

"Who pushed you?" Arthur questioned, now furious. Whoever had been fool enough to try and take her life away from her, he would gladly make them pay with their own. "Morgana, who was it?"

For yet another moment, there was silence. The woman opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, as if considering what she should say, before steel appeared in her eyes. It was not the steel of resilience that he had seen in her before, but something utterly different. When she answered, he was shocked beyond belief.

"Merlin."

A/N: Just a little explanation. I also wanted for this to be a story about Morgana dealing with evil and magic, and Arthur helping her to do that. That means that it might be a long story. Anyone up for that? If you are, review!


	8. Questions and Kisses

Chapter Eight

A/N: Thank you to Pegasus and Kreuse for reviewing the last chapter.

Arthur shook his head to clear it, as if doing so would lessen the haze of confusion and disbelief that had settled on his mind, even though he was certain that the action would do no such thing. He could hardly believe what Morgana had told him, yet neither could he make himself deny the point that she made. It had been Merlin. It had been Merlin who had tried to kill Morgana.

"How do you know?" the man asked, hoping for the woman not to have an answer to give him. "It could have been anyone who pushed you, Ana, how do you know that it was him?"

"I saw him. It was only for a moment, as I fell, but I saw his face." she responded, much to the disappointment of the prince. If she had seen him, stood behind her, a moment before she had fallen, then there was no denying that his servant was the culprit. And for attempted murder on the First Lady of the kingdom, there was only one price that could be paid. Death.

For a moment, Arthur found himself considering any loopholes that there could be. In technicality, Morgana was only a distant member of the royal family, and only through the late wife of the king, whose niece she was, though the woman had been already deceased by the time of her birth. She was the ward of the king, but she was not his blood daughter, and so maybe the man would be a little more lenient than he would have been if it had been his heir. The blonde immediately shook his head, subtly enough that it could hardly be noticed. Uther Pendragon would do no such thing, and Merlin would hang.

'_Why should I help him?'_ he suddenly questioned himself, as he took in the fallen face of the raven haired woman. '_He tried to kill Morgana, when she had done nothing to him. He deserves to die for that. Anyone would do.'_

When he glanced up at the girl once again, his thoughts were reinforced. The raven haired woman, a fiery and passionate one by personality, had been reduced to a broken child, tears slipping down her face and a sadness in her eyes that he had not seen for a very long time, when she had been taken from her home and brought to Camelot, her father's death still heavy in her memory. That had been almost a decade previously and, bar the slight moment of tearing when she returned from her ordeal in the forest, he had not seen her cry since. It was almost painful to see her do so now.

"Morgana, I promise you that he will not get away with this." the man told her, desperate to show that he was going to support the girl who sat by her side, and when he said so, she raised her watery gaze to meet his, and allowed a slight smile to creep onto her face, to show her appreciation for the sentiment. "I will hunt down that servant, and he will pay for what he tried to do to you."

"Thank you, Arthur." she said to him, the relief clear in her quiet tone. "You don't know how much it means to me, to know that I'm not alone."

"You will never be alone, Morgana." Arthur responded, forgetting all about Merlin for a moment as he pulled the young woman close to him, masking her tears in the thin fabric of his shirt. For a moment, no one else existed in the world. Not Merlin, not his father, not a single person in the castle, or even the kingdom. There was just them.

Then it all happened so quickly. Without even knowing it, the prince began to move forwards, leaning in the direction of the young woman sat beside him, who did precisely the same, though her movements were a little more lethargic, which he would have expected, as she still had not completely recovered from her injuries, and was beginning to tire. '_What am I doing?'_ the man asked himself, shocked at the wilful attitude that his body was portraying, something that his mind seemed to have little to do with, if anything at all. Not that he was complaining, at all.

When their lips finally met, stars danced behind Arthur's eyes, and he suspected that they did the same behind hers, judging by the smile he could feel as her lips pressed against his. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, with any of the girls that he had kissed in the past. Even Guinevere, the woman that he had thought he was in love with for so long, until Morgana had fallen, at least, when he realised what he had to lose if she had been taken from him.

Unconsciously, the man's hands raised themselves, one to cup her cheek and another to rest on the curve of her waist. For a minute, something inside of his mind wondered if he was being too forward with the woman. After all, she was still delicate from her injuries, and to his knowledge, she had never been kissed before, though he found himself doubting the truth of this as he saw the ease with which she responded to his actions. But as she raised her own arms to wrap around his neck, one of her hands entwining itself in the loose strands of his hair, all of those fears were taken from him, leaving only the beauty and wonder of the moment.

Arthur was so utterly engrossed in the feelings of his lips pressed against Morgana's, something that he had wished for for such a long time that he had almost forgotten the extent to which he did so, he did not notice the glint of amber appear in the woman's eyes. All he knew was that he loved her, and that Merlin would pay for what he had done.

A/N: Uh oh! Please review!


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